Hearty Corn Chowder and tea biscuits!!!

Homemade Corn Chowder and Tea Biscuits

Today I tried something new, since it was a rainy day outside I decide to make something hearty, one of my lovers favorite dishes, Corn Chowder and Tea Buscuits (Horray for me they didn’t turn out like hockey pucks this time) will post the link for the biscuit recipe I used following the chowder recipe!

You will Need:

1 med ham steak cut into small pieces

1 can of evaporated milk

1 cup white milk

1 cup of Water

1 carton of Chicken Stock

3 tbsp of butter

1 small-med size squash skinned and cut into chunks

3 cups of frozen corn

1 large onion chopped

4 cloves of fresh garlic

2 lbs of russet potatos roughly skinned and cubed

4 med carrots, skinned and diced

Salt & Pepper for Seasoning

This is my own recipe, so this is how I did it!

In a large stock pot turned on to 5 or 6, lightly cover the bottom of the pot with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Put in your ham, including the center bone that you have chopped up season with pepper and no salt as the ham is already salty. Fry until cooked. remove from pot and put in a dish. Take a 1/2 cup of your stock and braise the bottom of your pan removing all dark bits, add your onions & garlic. Let this cook until the onion is translucent.

Frying the ham!!

Next remove the ham bone and add your squash, 1 cup of stock and 1 tbsp of your butter. Cover until is steamed and soft enough to mash.

Gettin ready to steam the Squash

For the next step this I used an immersion blender but you can also just use a masher. Add the can of milk and blend/mash the squash until it has a smooth consistency.

Using the Immersion Blender!

Now you can add the remaining stock, milk & water. Then add your ham, potatos, carrot and corn. Add 2 tbsp of butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. Leave simmer at low heat for about an hour or more until all of your veggies are tender. I always like to graze the froth of the top of the soup with a spoon or an easier way use a piece of paper towel, it takes away any of the residue from the veggies and really purifies the broth! Just like any stew or chowder the longer it sits the better it tastes.

The Veggies are added!

The final product turns out totally delicious and very appealing too due to the beautiful looking yellow broth. It’s healthy and hearty and a great meal to feed the whole family. My boys even asked for it in their lunches. You know it’s a hit when 🙂

Chowder at it’s finest!!

I will admit to you all that I am not much of a baker, like I REALLY need to work on my baking.. Normally my homemade tea biscuits are better suited for hockey pucks and ven the birds won’t even eat them!! Now thats bad! I made them yesterday and they turned out great.. I got my recipe from http://www.joyofbaking.com/Biscuits.html. Here not only do they give you a great recipe but they show you a how to video that I did not watch! 😉

Biscuit Recipe:

2 1/2 cups (325 grams) all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon (14 grams) granulated white sugar (optional)

1/2 cup (113 grams) coldunsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup (180 ml) milk

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Topping:

1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon milk’

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (use pastry blender, two knives, or fingertips). Add the milk and slightly beaten egg and stir until just combined. (The texture should be sticky, moist and lumpy.)

Place mixture on a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough gently until it comes together and is a smooth dough.

Roll out dough to about a 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thickness. Cut out biscuits with a lightly floured round cookie cutter. Place on prepared baking sheet and brush the tops with the beaten egg and milk mixture and bake for about 10 – 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the biscuit comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Serve warm with butter.

Makes about 10 – 2 1/2 inch (6 cm) biscuits.

Whisking the dry ingredients

After the butter was added to the dry ingredients!

Cutting the biscuits, I think next time I will leave them a little thicker!

Ready for the oven!!

Yay they are soft and flaky and good to eat! 🙂

So thats it for now, blog #4 complete and to be honest I am enjoying it.. I hope that these recipes are inspiring you to cook more or try new things.. and if it isn’t, well it’s doing it for me.. Until next time ENJOY & Have FUN!!